Gegharkunik

Gegharkunik

1/4th of Gegharkunik is covered by water, and the queen of the seas Lake Sevan surrounded by Geghama mountain range is in the heart of Gegharkunik marz. Marz center Gavar is known also of its handicrafts and textile production. And Martuni, second large city, has highly developed fishing industry. In the Botanical Garden of city Sevan the mystery of “Lake Sevan draining” will be uncovered.

Sights of Gegharkunik

Noratus

is a major and historical village in the Gegharkunik province of Armenia, near the town of Gavar. It is famous for the Noratus cemetery. The village also has a monastery and church dated to the 9th century, and a ruined basilica built by Prince Sahak.

Noratus is first mentioned as a settlement in the Middle Ages, when it was a much larger settlement. The bronze-age megalithic fort near the village points to the notion that Noratus is one of the most ancient continuously inhabited settlements in Armenia.

Sevan

“Sevan is like a piece of the sky that has descended to the earth and been placed among the mountains” Maksim Gorky, a Russian writer.
To the northeast of Ararat valley in the region of Gegharkunik, poetically described as “sea adorned region”, glorious Lake Sevan has been spreading its gorgeous beauty for many centuries and it is a silent witness of numerous events of the ancient history of Armenian people. In ancient times it was called Geghama sea, Gegharkunik Sea or Likhinitis Sea. Lake Sevan is the second largest fresh water lake in the world situated at a high altitude, as the first one is Titicaca located in South America between Peru and Bolivia. Sevan combined with uprising and high mountains give rise to a giant triangle, in the northeast encompassed by Areguni and Sevan mountain chains and divided by Masrik valley from Vardenis mountain chain. The Lake is circled by Pambak mountain chains where Hrazdan valley lies between Geghama and Pambak mountains.

Sevanavank

monastic complex located on a peninsula at the northwestern shore of Lake Sevan in the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia, not far from the town of Sevan. Initially the monastery was built at the southern shore of a small island. After the artificial draining of Lake Sevan, which started in the era of Joseph Stalin, the water level fell about 20 metres, and the island transformed into a peninsula